(March 2, 2016) - After securing its berth to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil with a 5-0 victory against Trinidad & Tobago on Feb. 19 in the semifinal of the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship and then defeating Canada 2-0 for the tournament title, the U.S. Women's National Team now turns its focus to Olympic preparation and there will be no better preparation than the inaugural 2016 SheBelieves Cup.

U.S. WNT FACES ENGLAND TO OPEN SHEBELIEVES CUP: After securing its berth to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil with a 5-0 victory against Trinidad & Tobago on Feb. 19 in the semifinal of the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship and then defeating Canada 2-0 for the tournament title, the U.S. Women's National Team now turns its focus to Olympic preparation and there will be no better preparation than the inaugural 2016 SheBelieves Cup. The four-team women's international soccer event of the year kicks off on March 3 as four of the top five ranked teams in the world - the USA, England, France and Germany - begin play in the 2016 SheBelieves Cup. The elite tournament features many of the world's top players and includes three teams that made the final four of last summer's Women's World Cup. The tournament will be played in three doubleheaders: March 3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida (Germany vs. France and USA vs. England), March 6 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee (Germany vs. England and USA vs. France) and March 9 at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida (France vs. England and USA vs. Germany). The USA's first match against England will be broadcast on FS1 and its following two games against France and Germany will both be broadcast on ESPN3. Fans can also follow all the action from #USAvENG on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt and @ussoccer_esp, and follow the team along its journey on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (ussoccer_wnt).

BECKY'S CENTURY: Against Canada on Feb. 21 in the championship game of the Olympic qualifying tournament, U.S. co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn became the 35thU.S. female player to hit 100 caps. She also picked up the third assist of her career, lofting a perfect pass to Lindsey Horan to score off a header. Sauerbrunn will be honored for her 100thcap before the USA's second match in the SheBelieves Cup on March 6 against France in Nashville.

HEADED FOR RIO: The USA's victory at the 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship in which it won all five games by shutouts, and out-scored its opposition 23-0, marked the fourth consecutive time the Americans have won the tournament. In 2012, the USA won the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Vancouver, B.C. (at the same stadium where it would win the Women's World Cup three years later) and then went on to win the gold medal in London. In 2008, the USA won the tournament in Mexico and went on to win gold in Beijing. In 2004, the U.S. won the tournament in Costa Rica and went on to win gold in Athens, Greece. The U.S. qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Games as host and for the 2000 Sydney Games as a top-7 finisher at the 1999 Women's World Cup.

NINE IN; THREE TO GO: Nine nations have already qualified for the 12-team Olympic Football Tournament: The USA and Canada from CONCACAF, Brazil and Colombia from South America, South Africa and Zimbabwe from Africa, New Zealand from Oceania and France and Germany from Europe by virtue of their finish at the 2015 Women's World Cup. Two more teams will qualify from Asia and Europe during tournaments held almost concurrently to the #SheBelieves Cup. Two teams will qualify from Asia during qualifying being held from February 29 - March 9 in Osaka, Japan, and one more will qualify from Europe after a mini-tournament from March 2-9 in the Netherlands featuring Sweden, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. Long-time African power Nigeria, which gave the USA a difficult match in the Women's World Cup, fell in the third round of African qualifying to Equatorial Guinea, which in turn fell to South Africa, which earned its second straight Olympic berth.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN: Of the 22 players named to the roster for the SheBelieves Cup, 19 were on the squad that earned a spot in the 2016 Olympics. U.S. head coach Jill Ellis recalled 2015 Women's World Cup champions Whitney Engen and Heather O'Reilly, who with 228 caps is the most experienced player on the U.S. roster. Ellis also gave Seattle Sounders defender Lauren Barnes her first WNT call-up. Barnes played every minute of all 20 matches she played for the Reign last season, helping the club to the regular season title and a berth in the NWSL title game. Fifteen players on the roster were a part of the 2015 Women's World Cup Team while seven players - most of whom have carved out consistent rosters spots in the past six months - make up the remainder of the roster.

PUGH MAKES JUMP TO SENIOR SIDE: Mallory Pugh, who will turn 18 in April of 2016, achieved a rare feat of helping two different teams qualify for a world championship in the same cycle. Last December, she captained the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team to a 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup berth and the CONCACAF title at the qualifying tournament in Honduras. Pugh was called up by Jill Ellis for the USA's January training camp this year, making her one of the youngest field players called into the full U.S. WNT in the past 15 years. She does have extensive experience with the USA's Youth National Teams, having been a starter at the age of 16 in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada. Pugh, who will compete in the U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea at the end of the year, scored in her senior team debut (the 19th U.S. WNT player to score in her first cap) on Jan. 23 vs. Ireland at 17 years, 8 months and 25 days old, becoming the youngest player to debut for the U.S. in the last 11 years. Pugh earned her second cap with the WNT on Feb. 10, coming on for Crystal Dunn in the 68th minute against Costa Rica in her first Olympic qualifying match and thus became the youngest female player in WNT history to play in an Olympic qualifier match at 17 years, 9 months and 12 days old. She earned her third cap against Mexico when she played the last 16 minutes and was on the field for the winning goal. She got her first career start against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15 and picked up her first WNT assist while creating a PR own goal. She also got starts in the semifinal victory against Trinidad & Tobago and championship game victory against Canada, picking up assists in both games on Tobin Heath goals. Pugh signed a letter of intent on Feb. 3 to play at UCLA starting fall 2016.

CUP RETURNS: In the mid-to-late 90s, and early 2000s, the U.S. hosted four-team international tournaments that evolved into the Nike U.S. Cup. Tournaments were held in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and a final one in 2002 (the 2001 tournament was cancelled after the first games due to the 9/11 attacks). Twelve different countries came over to participate during the tournament's run: Australia (3 times), Canada (3), Italy (2), Brazil (2), Russia (2), South Korea (2), Mexico (2) Norway (1), Chinese Taipei (1), China PR (1), Finland (1) and Japan (1). The USA won all seven tournaments including two played in Olympic years in 1996 and 2000. The early tournaments were mostly played in the Northeast, but the games moved around to the southeast, the south, the Midwest and even to Portland, Ore. during the latter stages of the run of the competition.

AT RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM: The USA has played six times in Tampa, Fla., including two games at Raymond James Stadium. Most recently, the USA defeated France, 1-0, in June of 2014 on a goal from Sydney Leroux.

USA ROSTER NOTES:

The USA is 6-0-0 in 2016, having scored 28 goals while allowing none with five consecutive games coming up against teams that made excellent runs at the 2015 Women's World Cup.

The WNT remains unbeaten in all-time CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying with an 18-0-1 record.

Against Canada on Feb. 21, the U.S. WNT extended its streak to 10 consecutive games in CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying without allowing a goal, dating back to the Final of the 2008 Qualifying tournament when the U.S. tied Canada 1-1 on April 12, 2008 and went on to win in penalty kicks 6-5.

Nineteen of the 20 players on the Olympic qualifying roster saw action with seven players playing in all five games.

Meghan Klingenberg played the most minutes in Olympic qualifying with 384 out of 450 while Carli Lloyd played 380 and Alex Morgan played 379. Crystal Dunn led the team with six goals, while Morgan scored five and Carli Lloyd scored four. Morgan Brian and Mallory Pugh shared the team lead in assists over the five games with three each.

Dunn, who was among the final 25 players vying for Women's World Cup spots before the roster was trimmed to the 23 that represented the USA in Canada, returned to the team for the final seven games of the 2015 Victory Tour and started them all, scoring four goals with three assists. Since returning to the team on the Victory Tour, Dunn has started 11 games and has scored 10 goals with three assists, in addition to earning a penalty kick against Costa Rica on Feb. 10. The 10 goals of course include her five-goal game on Feb. 15 against Puerto Rico that tied a U.S. record for goals in a match.

Before the match against Puerto Rico, Dunn had scored five goals for the U.S. WNT. She doubled that total vs. Puerto Rico, notching five goals to tie a U.S. record for most goals scored in a match. She became the seventh player to achieve that feat. The other six were: Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers, Tiffeny Milbrett, Abby Wambach, Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux. It was Dunn's first multi-goal game for the WNT.

The USA scored three goals in a one minute and 56 second span during the second half against Puerto Rico from the 60thto the 62nd minute as Ashley Rivera scored an own goal, Dunn scored and then Press scored. It is believed to be the shortest time in which the U.S. WNT has ever scored three goals.

Lloyd has scored 12 career goals in Olympic Qualifying, just two short of Abby Wambach's USWNT record of 14.

After earning two caps at the 2013 Algarve Cup, 21-year-old Horan got the first three starts of her career at the end of last year, switching positions to holding midfielder where she excelled in the Olympic Qualifying tournament. Horan, who was the first American female player to skip college and head overseas to play professionally, left for Europe in July of 2012 after she graduated from high school and spent more than three years in France with Paris Saint-Germain. She scored her first WNT goal against T&T at the end of last year and scored her second to break open a tight match against Canada in the championship of Olympic Qualifying.

The 23-year old Mewis made her debut at the 2014 Algarve Cup, played in one match last year and already has three caps this year while scoring her first WNT goal during Olympic Qualifying.

Hinkle, 22, earned her first cap on Oct. 21, 2015 against Brazil, coming on at left back and playing well in the last 20 minutes. She has since earned seven more, including four this year, while making one start.

Sonnett, 22, earned her first cap on Oct. 25 against Brazil, playing on 90 minutes in the center of the defense, and has since earned six more caps including three this year with two starts.

Press became the 18thplayer to score 30 or more goals for the U.S. WNT when she tallied against Costa Rica on Feb. 10. She now has 31 in 61 games giving her an average of scoring a bit better than a goal for every two games she plays (0.51 goals per game).

OnJan. 23, Morgan became the 34thfemale player in U.S. history to play 100 times for her country, and she scored her 57th goal. Morgan debuted for the USA on Oct. 2, 2010, vs. China. Morgan has an even better average that Press scoring 0.60 goals per game in her international career.

Morgan's goal 12 seconds into the match against Costa Rica was the earliest in U.S. WNT history. She also scored the latest goal in U.S. history, tallying after 122 and 22 seconds against Canada in the semifinal of the 2012 Olympics. It was also the quickest in CONCACAF qualifying history, besting Abby Wambach (35 seconds vs. Dominican Republic on Jan. 20, 2012).

Morgan scored three goals in the Olympic qualifying semifinal match against Trinidad & Tobago on Feb. 19. It was her third career hat trick and the first since Nov. 28, 2012 against Ireland.

Lloyd and Morgan have combined for five goals in 2016 with one providing the assist and the other the goal.

Heath's two goals in the Olympic Qualifying tournament were her first since the Women's World Cup Final and were remarkably similar, both coming off spinning left-footed blasts after making runs into the box from the right side. Both were also off excellent and similar passes from Pugh who had made dynamic runs down the left side. Heath now has 14 international goals.

Six players on the roster have played 100 times for more for the USA, led by Heather O'Reilly's 228 caps. Lloyd has 217, Hope Solo has 190 followed by Heath's 111, Morgan with 105 and Becky Sauerbrunn with 100.

Five players scored their first WNT goals in 2015: Julie Johnston (who got five, including her first against France in the Algarve Cup Final), Kelley O'Hara (on June 30, 2015 against Germany in the Semifinal match of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup), Horan (on Dec. 10 against T&T), Dunn (on Sept. 17 vs. Haiti) and Stephanie McCaffrey, who scored against Brazil in her debut on Oct. 25. All of Johnston's goals came off set pieces, with the first three assisted by the now-retired Lauren Holiday and one each by Megan Rapinoe and O'Hara.

Two players have scored their first WNT goals in 2016: Against Puerto Rico in Olympic Qualifying, Samantha Mewis scored her first goal at the senior international level to become the second player to score her first goal in 2016, notching the 10thand final goal in stoppage time. Her older sister Kristie also has one international goal for the USA. Pugh became the first player to score her first goal in 2016 for the WNT when she scored in her debut on Jan. 23 vs. Ireland.

Of the 22 field players on the SheBelieves Cup roster, four players do not have an international goal, all defenders: Emily Sonnett, Becky Sauerbrunn, Jaelene Hinkle and uncapped Lauren Barnes.

Lloyd's 18 goals in 2015 were a career high for her in a calendar year and eight more than her closest teammate Press, who had 10. With seven in the first six games, Lloyd leads the team again early on.

Lloyd has scored 23 goals in the USA's last 19 matches starting with the Round of 16 game at the WWC, 22 of them coming while playing in a withdrawn forward position.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS:

Carli Lloyd became the 10th woman in U.S. history to reach 200 caps, achieving the feat at the WWC quarterfinal match against China PR on June 26. She is the third active player to reach that mark and 10th overall American. Christie Rampone and Heather O'Reilly are the other two. She also became the third player in U.S. history to score in her 200th appearance. Wambach and O'Reilly are the other two.

Lloyd is the highest active goal scorer in U.S. history with the players ahead of her, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Kristine Lilly, Tiffeny Milbrett and Michelle Akers all retired.

Lloyd is in eighth place on the USA's all-time caps with 217.

Lloyd is in sixth place on the U.S. WNT's all-time goal scoring list. Lloyd, now with 86 goals, is the highest-scoring midfielder in U.S. history even though she has scored 22 of her last 23 goals playing as more of a withdrawn forward. She scored from the penalty spot while playing center-midfield against Puerto Rico on Feb. 15.

Hope Solo recorded her 89th career shutout against Germany in the semifinal of the WWC. It was the fifth straight World Cup clean sheet for the USA, and Solo's 10th in World Cup play, tying the record for most by a U.S. goalkeeper and most in World Cup play with Brianna Scurry. She earned her 95th against Canada in the Olympic Qualifying championship game on Feb. 21.

Solo earned her 177th cap against Japan in the World Cup Final on July 5. With 190 caps, she is the leader for caps by a goalkeeper in U.S. history. Briana Scurry earned 173 caps in her career (1994-2008).

Solo has the most starts by a WNT goalkeeper with 183. Solo is also in 9thplace on the WNT's all-time starts list behind Carli Lloyd, who is tied for seventh with Kate Markgraf at 187.

Solo has 144 goalkeeper wins and is the all-time leader in wins for a goalkeeper in U.S. history. Brian Scurry had 133 during her career (1994-2008).

With her game-winning goal against England on Feb. 13, Alex Morgan became the 10th player in U.S. history to score 50 or more goals. She now has 62 and is in eighth place on the USA's all-time goal scoring list. Next up for Morgan is Cindy Parlow's 75 career goals.

BY THE NUMBERS:
0.00 Goals per game the USA allowed in 2016
1 Numbers of players that made their WNT debut in 2016 (Pugh)
1 USA's FIFA ranking
4 Number of players that made their WNT debut in 2015 (Hinkle, Lewandowski, Sonnett, McCaffrey)
4.67 Goals per game the USA scored in 2015
5 Number of goals in 2016 that have featured a goal and an assist to each other from Lloyd or Morgan
9 Number of different U.S. players to score a goal in 2016
14 Goals Carli Lloyd needs to reach 100
18 Players that will make the Olympic roster
95 Shutouts by Hope Solo, an all-time U.S. WNT record
99 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Abby Wambach in her career
103 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Alex Morgan in her career
130 Minutes on the field per goal averaged by Mia Hamm in her career

USA IN NWSL: Following are the 2015 NWSL regular season statistics of the U.S. players on the SheBelieves Cup roster. Following the tournament, the majority of the U.S. players will get some rest time, and then return to their clubs for the historic fourth season of the league. The members of the Women's World Cup Team missed quite a few games due to National Team commitments over the 2015 seasons and several players also missed some games due to injury. Christen Press was the top scorer in the league of the WWC players, tallying 10 times in 10 games. After not making the WWC Team, Crystal Dunn took advantage of the increased opportunities with her club to lead the NWSL in scoring with 15 goals (along with three assists) while starting in 19 of the Washington Spirit's 20 games and winning the league MVP. She doubled the number of shots of her next closest teammate, firing 84, which led the league. She also led the NWSL in shots on goal with 48.

2015 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Field Players

Player

GP

GS

M

G

A

SH

SOG

OFF

FC

FS

YC

Barnes

20

20

1800

1

2

1

1

0

9

3

1

Brian

10

10

810

0

3

7

5

0

8

5

0

Dunn

20

19

1711

15

3

84

48

35

20

26

0

Engen

12

12

1080

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

0

Heath

5

5

401

0

0

13

7

1

8

6

1

Hinkle

20

20

1800

1

1

11

3

0

8

8

0

Johnston

11

11

990

0

2

4

1

0

7

10

1

Klingenberg

12

12

1046

0

2

7

1

1

3

3

0

Krieger

8

8

655

0

0

3

0

2

1

6

0

Lloyd

12

12

1080

4

0

56

15

6

15

12

0

S. Mewis

20

20

1685

4

4

55

27

0

22

10

2

Morgan

4

3

285

1

2

15

7

5

0

4

1

O'Hara

11

11

989

3

5

26

14

2

8

13

1

Press

11

10

931

10

2

50

27

17

7

2

0

O'Reilly

11

11

928

2

3

17

12

7

6

2

0

Sauerbrunn

11

11

990

0

0

3

0

1

3

6

1

2015 NWSL Regular Season Statistics Goalkeepers

Player

GP

GS

Min

GA

GAA

Sh

SOG

Sv

W

L

T

SO

Harris

9

9

810

12

1.33

126

60

47

3

2

4

1

Naeher

12

12

1080

30

2.50

209

95

65

2

9

1

0

Solo

8

8

720

9

1.12

66

28

19

5

2

1

1

AND THE WINNER IS: Current U.S. WNT players that won 2015 NWSL post-season awards are Crystal Dunn (Golden Boot and MVP), Defender of the Year Becky Sauerbrunn, and NWSL Best XI members Julie Johnston, Sauerbrunn, Dunn and Christen Press. U.S. WNT players that made the NWSL Second XI are Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe.

JILL ELLIS FACT FILE : After leading the USA to the Women's World Cup title, U.S. head coach Jill Ellis was rewarded with a multi-year contract extension on Aug. 5, 2015. She is the third U.S. coach - and first female coach -- to win a Women's World Cup at the senior level, following Anson Dorrance (1991) and Tony DiCicco (1999). Ellis was named the 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Soccer on Jan. 11 at the FIFA Awards Gala in Zurich, Switzerland. She was also named the CONCACAF Female Coach of the Year. Ellis, who previously served two stints as interim head coach of the U.S. WNT, is the eighth official head coach in U.S. history. She coached seven games as interim coach in 2012 (5-0-2) and two games (1-0-1) as interim in 2014 before she officially came on board, which gave her a 6-0-3 record before she ever was formally named the head coach in May of 2014. She has gone 36-3-7 since then for an overall record of 42-3-10. When named head coach in 2014, Ellis stepped away from her job as Development Director for the U.S. Women's National Teams, a job to which she was appointed in January of 2011, but still consults with U.S. Women's National Team Technical Director April Heinrichs who oversees the USA's youth teams.

Prior to becoming head coach, Ellis had extensive experience in the U.S. Women's National Team programs having served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women's National Team under Pia Sundhage, helping the team to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics. She has served two stints as head coach of the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team, guiding the squad to the CONCACAF title in 2010 and to the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany.

Ellis also had two stints as the head coach of the U.S. Under-21 Women's National Team, the second starting in the middle of 2005, after which she guided the team to the Nordic Cup in Sweden. She also coached the U-21s to the Nordic Cup title in Germany in 2000.

Ellis was a scout for the USA at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and has served as an assistant coach with the U.S. U-21s and U-16 Girls' National Teams.

Ellis joined U.S. Soccer full-time after a highly successful 12-year run as the head women's soccer coach for the UCLA Bruins. Ellis led UCLA to eight NCAA Final Fours, including seven in a row from 2003-2009, and won six straight conference titles from 2003-2008. She finished her time in Westwood with a record of 229-45-14. Ellis, who was also head coach at the University of Illinois, has an all-time collegiate coaching record of 248-63-14.

She was the 2000 NSCAA National Coach of the Year after leading the Bruins to the NCAA Final in just her second season as head coach.

Ellis arrived in Westwood after heading the University of Illinois women's soccer program for two years. In 1998, she brought the Fighting Illini to a 12-8 record and a first Big Ten Tournament berth. Prior to coaching at Illinois, Ellis served as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia for one year (1996-97), at Maryland for three years (1994-96) and at North Carolina State for another three years (1988-90). As an assistant coach at North Carolina State, Ellis helped the Wolfpack secure the 1988 ACC title and an NCAA Final Four appearance.

A forward during her playing days at the College of William & Mary from 1984-87, Ellis was a Third-Team All-American in 1987. In 1984, Ellis helped Braddock Road in Virginia to the Under-19 club national championship.

Ellis grew up in Portsmouth, England, and came to the United States in 1981 at the age of 15. She also lived in Singapore for two years while her father helped to develop a national soccer program in that country. She earned her B.A. in English Literature and Composition from the College of William & Mary in 1988 and currently resides in Los Angeles. She has a USSF "A" coaching license.

England is not eligible to participate in the Olympics as Great Britain sends a united team and England, Scotland and Wales do not play Olympic soccer. An exception was made for the 2012 London Olympics, where GB won its group by winning all three first round matches by shutout before losing in the quarterfinal to Canada, 2-0.

Head coach Mark Sampson, a finalist for FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Soccer, has named 19 of the 23 players that helped England to a historic third-place finish at the 2015 Women's World Cup.

Among them are goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, who grew up in Southern California, and captain Steph Houghton, who played every minute of the Women's World Cup and scored vs. Norway in the Round of 16.

The roster also includes midfielder Fara Williams, who scored three times from the penalty spot during the World Cup, including the game-winner against Germany in overtime of the third-place match.

Former University of North Carolina defender Lucy Bronze is also on the roster, and scored twice in the World Cup, including the game-winner against Canada in the quarterfinal match.

England will bring a plethora of attacking talent that also includes Portland Thorns forward Jodie Taylor, who scored the first goal against Canada at the Women's World Cup.

Williams (148 caps) and Eniola Aluko (98) are in line to make their 150th and 100th appearances respectively for England during the tournament.

England's run at the 2015 Women's World Cup started with a 1-0 loss to France in the opening group game, but they did not lose again until the semifinal. England's games were also decided by one goal. The Three Lionesses defeated Mexico and Colombia by 2-1 scores to finish group play to advance to the Round of 16, where they defeated Norway, 2-1. England then took down the hosts, defeating Canada 2-1 in the quarterfinal and had a chance to defeat Japan in the semifinal, but fell 2-1 due to a crushing own goal by Laura Bassett. England then defeated Germany 1-0 in the third-place match for its historic third-place finish.

USA VS. ENGLAND

The meeting with England will be the first since the USA's narrow 1-0 victory in Milton Keynes, England, in early February of last year that sparked a 24-game unbeaten streak which included the run to the World Cup title. Alex Morgan scored the lone goal on a header and England had a goal controversially waved off due to offside.

The USA is 8-3-1 all-time against England.

Prior to the 2015 meeting, the USA and England hadn't played since a 2011 friendly in London that saw England defeat the USA 2-1. Prior to that, the teams hadn't met since the 2007 Women's World Cup, a 3-0 victory for the USA during the quarterfinal in Tianjin, China.

The USA lost its first two matches against England, played in 1985 and 1988, both in Italy.

The 1985 match was the third ever played by the U.S. Women's National Team, a 3-1 setback.